Indeed, as I noted before, the difference between the two sausage-making efforts comes down to three letters of the alphabet “” CBO.

The climate bill always had one big advantage “” it pays for itself. Now we know the climate bill has another advantage: Whereas the CBO now says current version of the healthcare bill don’t achieve a major reform goal, cost containment, CBO also says that the Waxman-Markey climate bill does achieve the major goal of that bill — reducing GHGs substantially starting in the next decade (see here).

No, I don’t intend to start covering healthcare, but since many progressives are rightfully unhappy with the compromises that have been made to pass Waxman-Markey, I think it remains worth pointing out the difficulties and compromises that are being faced in the effort to pass a deficit-neutral health care bill — which arguably should be much easier since it is a much more salient issue for the public.

Such is life inside the Washington DC beltway when one entire political party is not just dead set against all efforts to solve the nation’s major problems, but demagogues against the most important strategies. That sharply narrows the political space in which action can take place.

Let’s hope serious health reform does get passed by the Senate in September, not just because the country needs it, but because, as Obama says, “wins beget wins.”